The Cleveland Cavaliers’ first half of the season couldn’t be going much better, even after they lost a couple of games over the past week.
The team still sits atop the East with a scintillating 35-6 record despite recently losing Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro to injury.
There has been plenty to get excited about.
However, the ultimate goal is still a long way away, as head coach Kenny Atkinson reiterated during a recent press conference when he got honest about his assessment of the team’s stellar first half.
92.3 The Fan’s Daryl Ruiter quoted Atkinson on X as saying that the goal for the second half is “To repeat what we did in the first half, that would be miraculous just because our schedule’s harder, a lot harder. I think we go from the easiest first half schedule to maybe one of the hardest schedules…We’re just going to keep getting better, but it’s going to be difficult to repeat the same record for a lot of reasons.”
#Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson on the second half of the season: "To repeat what we did in the first half, that would be miraculous just because our schedule's harder, a lot harder. I think we go from the easiest schedule first half to maybe one of the hardest schedules. So…
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) January 20, 2025
Many Cavs fans would probably not like to hear that assessment, but it’s honest and realistic.
The No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference is well within their reach, but the most important part of closing out the season is making it to the postseason healthy and on a good pace.
It’s much too early to take the foot off the gas pedal, but the Cavs already have a comfortable 7-game lead on the Celtics in the loss column.
It’s great to hear that Atkinson isn’t overly excited about the team’s start and understands that there is a lot more work to do.
His mindset should give this fanbase comfort and make them feel good about where things are headed.
NEXT: Kenny Atkinson Reveals Injury Updates On Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro
